A Sparkling Interview With Mr. Spinkles!

[Sunstone]

Today, we interview Mr. Spinkles, who is world renown as an imposing champion of first class rutabaga hurling. But more than his impressive life accomplishments, Mr. Spinkles is a true Homo sapiens, a genuine hominid, a wonderfully authentic primate. Which is, of course, why we won't be mentioning in this interview The Scandal. No, we believe Mr. Spinkles has a right to privacy regarding The Scandal he was recently the intense focus of, and we also believe that any mention of The Shameless Spinkles Scandal would be merely gratuitous on our part. So, we're not going to mention it. At all. Not a word about it. Having said that, let's ask Mr. Scandal -- umm, Mr Spinkles -- our first question:

Could you refresh our memory, Mr. Spinkles? Which university are you currently attending and why does the Dean of Students so often stutter uncontrollably when mentioning your name in public?

Do you consider yourself opposed to capital punishment?

Are you still majoring in physics?

What area of your major most excites you these days and why?

Rutabagas -- the gift to mankind of an inspired deity, or a despised object to be thrown as far as possible?

What's your minor and what do you best like about it?

What are your career plans? What will you be doing in five or so years?

Does your mother fully support your life ambition to dance a convincing interpretation of a wholly soulful cauliflower before a packed audience at Carnegie Hall?

How's Abby doing?

Why have you utterly failed in your life to take up drugs, drop out of college, and sleep under viaducts? Is it because you're not man enough?

What do you think of waterboarding? Is it torture? Should the US be practicing it?

How would you describe your accommodations at the university? In what kind of place do you live and how is it decorated?

Where on campus do you most like to spend your time? Why?

Which three RFers would you find most interesting to leisurely dine with?

What kind of restaurant would you prefer to dine with them at?

In your whole life, what was the worse advice you ever received regarding sex?

If you had a younger friend come to you for advice on sex, what two things would you most want to impress upon them?

How come the arrow of time cannot be reversed? Parking tickets can be reversed -- why not the arrow of time?

Can a French chipmunk and a Spanish squirrel ever crave true happiness together, or is it more likely they would just be thrown together in a storm?

Why aren't you a Bulgarian? Is it because, as many suspect, you have a deep set irrational phobia of Bulgarians that you have here-to-for been unwilling to confess?

Do you feel a greater personal affinity for methodological naturalism, ontological naturalism, or nudism?

If Karl Marx had truly understood Charles Darwin, would Marx have preferred zippers or buttons on his trousers?

Should the US get out of Iraq? Why or why not?

What are two of your three most important life accomplishments to date?

Why do you date your life accomplishments? Are you expecting to marry them?

What's one advantage and one disadvantage of a global economy?

Long term, are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of humanity and why do your thoughts about that have nothing at all to do with Britney Spears shaving her head, as one might otherwise suspect?

Do you consider yourself family oriented?

Do you have a cell phone, a laptop, and an iPod?

What do you use to take class notes?

Your favorite form of recreation?

Which three songs are most essential to life?

When did you first become aware of the fact you had no hidden desire to cackle at passing ducks? Did that awareness, when it came to you, make you feel alone in all the world?

What's your favorite holiday -- and why is it your favorite?

Do you still celebrate your birthday by dancing a vigorous naked polka on top of your father's car or have you given up that adolescent craving?

Is life essentially fair to crayfish?

 

[Mr Spinkles]

I replied to almost all the questions AND THEN I ACCIDENTALLY CLICKED THE 'BACK' BUTTON ON MY BROWSER! STUPID STUPID STUPID!! LOL

Oh well, here we go again....

Today, we interview Mr. Spinkles, who is world renown as an imposing champion of first class rutabaga hurling. But more than his impressive life accomplishments, Mr. Spinkles is a true Homo sapiens, a genuine hominid, a wonderfully authentic primate. Which is, of course, why we won't be mentioning in this interview The Scandal. No, we believe Mr. Spinkles has a right to privacy regarding The Scandal he was recently the intense focus of, and we also believe that any mention of The Shameless Spinkles Scandal would be merely gratuitous on our part. So, we're not going to mention it. At all. Not a word about it. Having said that, let's ask Mr. Scandal -- umm, Mr Spinkles -- our first question:

First off, let me thank you for this wonderful introduction. It's the best I've had all day.

Could you refresh our memory, Mr. Spinkles? Which university are you currently attending and why does the Dean of Students so often stutter uncontrollably when mentioning your name in public?

LOL! I go to Miami University of Ohio.

Do you consider yourself opposed to capital punishment?

The way it is practiced in this country, yes.

Are you still majoring in physics?

Yes!

What area of your major most excites you these days and why?

Biophysics. It's fascinating to try to understand proteins, organisms, ecosystems and evolution in terms of the physics of statistical mechanics, information theory and thermodynamics. Physicists are the ultimate reductionists, and they've gotten quite good at understanding how the basic elements of the universe interact. But 100 years ago most reputable physicists would have regarded living things as having special "animate" qualities that defy basic physical laws. I love trying to understand how very simple (and perhaps boring) nuclear, gravitational, and electric forces give rise to very NON-random systems that "make their living" by shoring up the randomness of the universe.

Rutabagas -- the gift to mankind of an inspired deity, or a despised object to be thrown as far as possible?

How dare you make me look up a word in the dictionary. A pox on your house!

What's your minor and what do you best like about it?

ReligiousForums studies.

What are your career plans? What will you be doing in five or so years?

Hopefully I will have a PhD in physics or biophysics.

Does your mother fully support your life ambition to dance a convincing interpretation of a wholly soulful cauliflower before a packed audience at Carnegie Hall?

Of course not! Not fully...

How's Abby doing?

Great! She recently won first place at an equestrian competition. We've been together for over three years now, which is probably due to the fact that I never let her out in public without a burka.

Why have you utterly failed in your life to take up drugs, drop out of college, and sleep under viaducts? Is it because you're not man enough?

I've been told that that is the logical conclusion of atheism. I guess I'm an illogical atheist.

What do you think of waterboarding? Is it torture? Should the US be practicing it?

The U.S. should absolutely not be practicing torture. International law defines torture as "severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental....(inflicted in order to gain)...information or a confession". The word 'severe' is open to some interpretation. Certainly no one disputes the "good cop, bad cop" method, although this surely causes some suffering to some people. Somewhere between that and testicular electroshock do we enter 'severe' territory.

Ignoring the legal technicalities, I can think of four criteria that might convince me that a method of coercion is acceptable. The first three OR the fourth would have to be satisfied, i.m.o.:

1. It actually works (they don't just tell you what you want to hear).
2. It only causes short-term suffering.
3. You KNOW the person has information that could save lives.
4. You KNOW that the deaths of thousands is imminent (e.g. a nuke is about to go off) and the person very likely has vital information.

As far as I know, no method of torture, including waterboarding, satisfies the first three criteria. (Can the second criteria EVER be satisfied?) The fourth would be an extraordinary circumstance.

How would you describe your accommodations at the university? In what kind of place do you live and how is it decorated?

I live in a house with seven buddies. The walls of my room are bare except for a Monty Python poster, a picture of Einstein sticking out his tongue, and Abby's first place ribbon.

Where on campus do you most like to spend your time? Why?

Scott dining hall, because there's good food and free newspapers.

Which three RFers would you find most interesting to leisurely dine with?

I could never pick just three! I would be thrilled to have dinner with any of my old RF friends. We go way back.

What kind of restaurant would you prefer to dine with them at?

Anyone up for some Italian?

In your whole life, what was the worse advice you ever received regarding sex?

At my Catholic high school, my health teacher, in health class, told us that the HIV virus is too small to be thwarted by condoms.

If you had a younger friend come to you for advice on sex, what two things would you most want to impress upon them?

1) If you're going to have sex, wear a condom; 2) IF YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE SEX, WEAR A CONDOM

How come the arrow of time cannot be reversed? Parking tickets can be reversed -- why not the arrow of time?

I wasn't sure how to answer this at first, but here's where my thinking lead me:

If the arrow of time were reversed, I suppose that would mean that the universe could "rewind" to a previous date, say Nov. 14, 1999. But if that happened, everything would revert back to precisely how it was on that day--including your brain, and everyone else's. Thus, your brain would revert back to a state in which it had no memory of anything past Nov. 14, 1999. So maybe it does happen, but we have no way of knowing it.

Can a French chipmunk and a Spanish squirrel ever crave true happiness together, or is it more likely they would just be thrown together in a storm?

*squinting* Sometimes I worry about you.

Why aren't you a Bulgarian? Is it because, as many suspect, you have a deep set irrational phobia of Bulgarians that you have here-to-for been unwilling to confess?

That's ridiculous! How could you possibly suggest such a thing?

"Unwilling to confess"?! I have made my irrational phobia of Bulgarians public on many prior occasions.

Do you feel a greater personal affinity for methodological naturalism, ontological naturalism, or nudism?

The votes are still being counted, and it's too close to call.

If Karl Marx had truly understood Charles Darwin, would Marx have preferred zippers or buttons on his trousers?

That's a trick question. He would have preferred to go trouserless.

Should the US get out of Iraq? Why or why not?

I've been asking myself this question for some time. The main things to consider, i.m.o., are 1) the cost of continued presence in Iraq (particularly as it inhibits our ability to conduct domestic matters and push for human rights and secular democracy elsewhere); 2) the fact that a coalition withdrawal will not end the sectarian violence (it will likely encourage it), nor will it be the end of occupying forces in Iraq.

But my opinion isn't that important, anyway. There are bright people out there--who have all the accurate information and who understand all the possible contingencies--who have written eloquently on the subject of Iraq. I'm trying to find them. :help:

What are two of your three most important life accomplishments to date?

1) getting to play on the high school football team; 2) bagging a girl like Abby

Why do you date your life accomplishments? Are you expecting to marry them?

Mabye. (Nice anticipation!)

What's one advantage and one disadvantage of a global economy?

Advantage: The boundaries of a person's "in-group" expand and begin to cross political boundaries. No American businessman who profits from hiring in India, or who has made friends in China while on a business trip, wants the U.S. to go to war with India or China. No teenager in Lebanon who loves some American pop music icon can really say that "all" Americans are bad.

Disadvantage: If not judiciously regulated, international business has the capacity to economically enslave entire groups of people.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

continued.....

Long term, are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of humanity and why do your thoughts about that have nothing at all to do with Britney Spears shaving her head, as one might otherwise suspect?

Well, I like to think that I strive at all times to be neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but realistic, although this itself may be too optimistic.

I am worried. We in the "West" (if you'll forgive the vagueness of the term) have discovered many ideas that can be used for tremendous benefit but that can also be extremely dangerous. We have to some extent learned, after a long, gradual, and painful process, how to properly use

• democratic government,
• free and rapid information sharing,
• technology that expands and improves business/production and human life (e.g. nuclear power, genetically-engineered foods)

We have over time developed a relatively educated citizenry, and a somewhat independent judiciary (both international and domestic) and media. These give us some protection against the infections of dogmatism, racism, xenophobia, and hysteria, all of which could potentially wipe out our species when combined with the ideas mentioned above.

But what happens when these ideas are thrust suddenly upon nations of people? What happens when a nation acquires mass media and rapid information technology, but it is under the sole control of a totalitarian government? What happens when a nation acquires democratic government, but their citizenry is so backward that it is more outraged by insults to their religion, which harm no one, than by suicide bombers, who have killed and maimed thousands? What happens when a nation suddenly explodes onto the economic scene, too rapidly and too profitably for legislation to prevent its factories from throwing pollution to all corners of the globe? What happens when a nation recieves the medicine and food it needs for exponential population growth, before it alters its reproductive practices? What happens when a nation acquires the technological know-how to build a nuclear bomb before it has the wisdom to abandon ancient apocalyptic fantasies?

I think I know what happens. It's the same thing that happened when humans arrived suddenly on the continents of North and South America, and on the islands of the South Pacific: biocide. Humans slaughtered the animals they found in the Americas and in the S. Pacific, because those animals hadn't co-evolved with us and built up defense mechanisms against us. They didn't know humans were dangerous.

I'm afraid that if we don't get the non-Western world caught up in terms of cultural evolution, and fast, our species might not survive the continuing biocide.

Do you consider yourself family oriented?

Sure. I love my family. I visit them every few weeks.

Do you have a cell phone, a laptop, and an iPod?

All three, for better or for worse.

What do you use to take class notes?

A notebook and a pen.

Your favorite form of recreation?

Hanging out with friends, or playing computer games. I also like to jog.

Which three songs are most essential to life?

Admittedly, I have an immature taste in music. I like the obscure "This Must Be Love" by Joey Mulland, and...well, anything by Mozart, I guess.

When did you first become aware of the fact you had no hidden desire to cackle at passing ducks? Did that awareness, when it came to you, make you feel alone in all the world?

I'll never forget it: it was Oct. 21st, 2004. It made me feel alone but I get by, day by day.

What's your favorite holiday -- and why is it your favorite?

Christmas! Presents/consumerism!

Do you still celebrate your birthday by dancing a vigorous naked polka on top of your father's car or have you given up that adolescent craving?

I've never had that craving. Not for polka, anyway. Now, crip walking is another story...

Is life essentially fair to crayfish?

Bananas.

 

[Sunstone]

Thank you, Mr. Spinkles for an exciting first round. Our second round of questions will be up today or tomorrow. Stay tuned!

 

[Sunstone]

By the way, Spinks, when I was writing out that first set of questions, I too hit the backspace key by mistake and lost the whole set just as I was on the final question. So, both of us did the same thing! We're doomed!

 

[Sunstone]

This is the second and final round of our sparkling interview with one of the best primates in America -- Mr. Spinkles.

As you know, Spinks, recent scientific research vigorously conducted by the Seattle based "Discovery Institute" very strongly suggests the human soul is inexplicably located in our sock drawers. In light of that research, and speaking as a student of science, how would you characterize any attempt by our species to apply science to the study of metaphysical entities?

If character traits were malleable, which two or three would you most prefer that people cultivate for themselves?

Once our species dies out, do you think it's inevitable that another species with our kind of intelligence will someday arise, and, if so, will they be as horny as us?

A light bulb has a gestation period of how long?

What's the universal default response to being propositioned by a dog to scent fire hydrants together?

It's been said by some psychologists that women primarily bond through telling each other secrets, while men primarily bond through accomplishing things together. Do you believe there's any truth to that? Why or why not?

Lot's of people think your recent decision to go photo hunting wild snow leopards in Connecticut was badly misguided. How have you responded to your critics?

What relationship do you have with alcohol? Do you like the occasional drink? If so, what do you drink, and how often?

How do you respond to those folks who say morals are on the decline in America?

It was once said by an extraordinarily shrewd judge of character (me) that you and Abby together have the brain power to light up a small Southwestern city. What sort of things do you and Abby discuss together?

Do you consider biophysics a revolutionary field? And if so, in what way?

Have your political views changed any over the last three or four years? And if so, how have your views changed?

Should the American government subsidize the electron transport system in aerobic respiration as heavily as it subsidizes Amtrak?

A former Surgeon General of the United States reported that one in five Americans was mentally or emotionally ill -- which may explain why we keep reelecting the same fools to Congress. What, if anything, should be done about that?

What's the most superficial thing people usually want to know about others?

How come toe lice failed to evolve to infest humans, and why is nothing being done about it?

Have you ever been to a nude resort or beach -- or had a desire to go to one?

What's your favorite meal?

Do you feel you understand the difference between erotic art and porn?

Who would you most like to interview on RF if you were inclined to interview someone? Name any number of people from one to six.

Crumbling potato chips into chili -- an idea who's time has come, or Satan's plan to destroy humanity through indigestion?

What's the wildest idea you've ever had in your preferred field of study?

Have you ever read Joseph Campbell on religion and mythology? If so, what's your overall impression of Campbell's importance?

Which of the world's nationalities is most in touch with their inner elf?

Do most people behave like they know the difference between a systemic social problem and an isolated incident?

Once you get your PhD, do you think you'll be more inclined towards teaching or research?

Well, that about wraps up our second set of questions. Thank you, Spinks! Please say "hello" to Abby for me! And, if you don't mind, encourage her to visit my blog and comment on the posts -- I miss reading her views!

 

[angellous_evangellous]

By the way, Spinks, when I was writing out that first set of questions, I too hit the backspace key by mistake and lost the whole set just as I was on the final question. So, both of us did the same thing! We're doomed!

Both of ya'll should work on the questions in a word processing program that's offline and then paste it here, thata way you won't risk losing your data. This message will self-destruct.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

As you know, Spinks, recent scientific research vigorously conducted by the Seattle based "Discovery Institute" very strongly suggests the human soul is inexplicably located in our sock drawers. In light of that research, and speaking as a student of science, how would you characterize any attempt by our species to apply science to the study of metaphysical entities?

LOL!

Well, look, I can imagine a world in which supernatural intelligences interact with us. I can imagine what it would be like if raindances could really bring on the rain, if making graven images really resulted in every first-born being struck down inexplicably, if people possessed by demons really could speak in ancient languages or hurl objects across a room. IF spirits really existed, we could do controlled studies to understand their nature, just as social scientists and psychologists today perform studies to understand human nature.

Careful study shows, i.m.o., that this simply is not the kind of universe in which we live. If supernatural influences exist, they are so shy or weak or deceptive as to be indistinguishable from natural ones. It is clear from psychology and history that we are embarassingly susceptible to seeing/feeling agency where there is none, and that if we allow our minds to wander unconstrained by empirical data, we can "prove" almost anything to ourselves. Finally, it is undeniable that science, or methodological naturalism, works. That's why technology works. I think that it works because we live in a natural universe. This conclusion is being tested every day, and it would take only a single verifiable case of supernatural influence to overthrow the naturalistic worldview.

So if you've got evidence for a metaphysical entity, show me what emprical experiment/observation tests for it, and which outcomes would verify or falsify its existence. If it can't be falsified, then we should regard it with the same seriousness as the Invisible Pink Unicorn and all the other fantasies that cannot be falsified.

If character traits were malleable, which two or three would you most prefer that people cultivate for themselves?

Great question.....

1) Honesty with self and with others.
2) Skepticism, including skepticism of oneself.
3) Compassion.

Once our species dies out, do you think it's inevitable that another species with our kind of intelligence will someday arise, and, if so, will they be as horny as us?

LOL! On our planet? It's possible. We arrived 4.5 billion years after the Earth formed, so if our species lasts less than a few hundred thousand years or so, then there is still another 4.5 billion years to go before the Sun turns into a red giant and obliterates the Earth.

A light bulb has a gestation period of how long?

The world may never know.

What's the universal default response to being propositioned by a dog to scent fire hydrants together?

Do you practice safe scents?

It's been said by some psychologists that women primarily bond through telling each other secrets, while men primarily bond through accomplishing things together. Do you believe there's any truth to that? Why or why not?

Of course. I mean, they're psychologists. When was the last time a psychologist got something horribly wrong?

Lot's of people think your recent decision to go photo hunting wild snow leopards in Connecticut was badly misguided. How have you responded to your critics?

I ask: can science prove that there are no wild snow leopards in Connecticut? My critics will not answer this simple question.

What relationship do you have with alcohol? Do you like the occasional drink? If so, what do you drink, and how often?

I do like the occasional drink. Oftentimes on the weekends on drink a combination of Jagermeister and cheap domestic beer.

How do you respond to those folks who say morals are on the decline in America?

Sexism, racism, homophobia, and anti-semitism, and drug use have all declined over the last two decades. Volunteerism, condom use, and concern for the environment have all increased. All in all, I'd call that an upward moral trend, but I'm certainly willing to change my mind if presented with counter examples.

It was once said by an extraordinarily shrewd judge of character (me) that you and Abby together have the brain power to light up a small Southwestern city. What sort of things do you and Abby discuss together?

Haha, thanks, but Abby's the brains of this operation. We talk about everything.....lots of politics and religion. I tell her about physics and she tells me about horses and other animals. We talk a lot about the student organization we co-founded with some friends, Secular Students of Miami, which I'm very proud to say has 100 members in its first semester of existence.

Do you consider biophysics a revolutionary field? And if so, in what way?

Yes. As an example, the nobel prize-winning discovery of the double helix structure of DNA via x-ray crystallography was certainly a revolution. That's biophysics! Or molecular biology...but these fields have fuzzy boundaries. In any case, biophysics is ready to make revolutionary advances in neuroscience, nanotechnology, astrobiology, experimental evolution and information and complexity theory.

However, I have to say that biophysics may simply be my current fling ("next week he'll want to be a cowboy")....my undergraduate focus has been on physics, so I still have a lot of biology to learn if I want to study biophysics.

more to come... (for better or for worse)

 

[Sunstone]

Great interview so far, Mr. Spinks! I look forward to the rest!

 

[Mr Spinkles]

Have your political views changed any over the last three or four years? And if so, how have your views changed?

Yes, although I have liked to call myself a "libertarian" all this time. I was seriously disturbed, first and foremost, by the lack of WMD's in Iraq, and secondly by the emerging, systematic abuse of human rights (especially habeus corpus) by our executive branch. I was pretty annoyed when Bush publicly came out in favor of Intelligent Design "theory", and I find it inexcusable that he has vetoed expanded federal funding for stem cell research on at least three occasions during his second term. The fact that I voted for Bush in 2004 is somewhat embarassing for me now, as it appears to me that his administration is neither competent nor honest. (This has not stopped me, I should point out, from still seeing fascism and religious extremism as the enemy. I'm not sympathetic to the moral nihilism that equates Bush to Bin Laden.)

I refused to even consider voting for a Republican during the previous midterm elections because of this, and I will probably keep on boycotting Republicans into the presidential elections. I like Obama.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

Should the American government subsidize the electron transport system in aerobic respiration as heavily as it subsidizes Amtrak?

Haha, no....certainly not as heavily.

A former Surgeon General of the United States reported that one in five Americans was mentally or emotionally ill -- which may explain why we keep reelecting the same fools to Congress. What, if anything, should be done about that?

I can't pretend to have the expertise to know.

What's the most superficial thing people usually want to know about others?

What they look like.

How come toe lice failed to evolve to infest humans, and why is nothing being done about it?

Two words: Zionist conspiracy.

Have you ever been to a nude resort or beach -- or had a desire to go to one?

Can't say that I have.

What's your favorite meal?

Hmmm....I guess that would be a cheeseburger, steamed broccoli, milk, and strawberries.

Do you feel you understand the difference between erotic art and porn?

I feel that there is a difference, but I am not knowledgable enough on the subject to have a sophisticated opinion.

Who would you most like to interview on RF if you were inclined to interview someone? Name any number of people from one to six.

Okay, I won't dodge the question this time, although of course there are way more than six RFers whom I would like to see interviewed:

1. Ceridwen
2. Sunstone
3. Jay
4. phantome profane
5. Nick Soapdish
6. lilithu

Crumbling potato chips into chili -- an idea who's time has come, or Satan's plan to destroy humanity through indigestion?

An idea who's time has come!

What's the wildest idea you've ever had in your preferred field of study?

I guess the wildest idea I've ever had is an idea that I'm still pondering....I thought of it while wondering how we can look at the world without assuming anything about "time". Everything that I've learned so far in physics implicitly assumes that we know what "time" is....even in relativity, time is defined (at least at my introductory level) by making implicity assumptions about "clocks".

I'm trying to imagine what it would be like if I was some sort of alien with absolutely no intuitive notions or concepts of "time". As best I can tell, our knowledge of the universe (past and present) can be represented by a bunch of states (e.g., dense hot plasma, expanded universe with stars and galaxies, cold universe of dead stars). It is how we choose to order these states that makes up our definition of "time".


My thinking was (is?) that perhaps we might define the "time" of an isolated (closed) system statistically by the increase in entropy (or some other probabilistic measure of "disorder"). In other words, if we have a closed system (e.g. the universe) and at state B it has more entropy than at state A, then we say that there is a difference in "time" between states A and B that has the same magnitude and direction as the difference in entropy. One of my professors objected that "entropy" is not well-defined when a system is far away from equilibrium.....so, I dunno. Just a crazy idea.

Have you ever read Joseph Campbell on religion and mythology? If so, what's your overall impression of Campbell's importance?

I haven't. Do you recommend him?

Which of the world's nationalities is most in touch with their inner elf?

Canadians?

Do most people behave like they know the difference between a systemic social problem and an isolated incident?

Great question! It seems to me that the answer is no. Perhaps that's why parents seem more worried about school shootings than swimming pools, which are demonstrably more dangerous.

Once you get your PhD, do you think you'll be more inclined towards teaching or research?

I think teaching, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for the thought-provoking questions!

 

[Sunstone]

On behalf of the entire RF interview team, I'd like to thank you for a sparkling interview, Mr Spinkles!

 

[Sunstone]

I forgot to answer your question about Joseph Campbell, Spinks. I think Campbell is widely recognized as one of the best mythologists of the last century. So, yes, I would recommend reading him.